Niagara commits Celec and Brown lead Odessa past Topeka, 4-2

ODESSA, TX – The Odessa Jackalopes used two first period goals and their first home crowd to beat the Topeka RoadRunners, 4-2, Friday at Ector County Coliseum. Niagra University commits Derek Brown, and Oliver Celec each scored their first goal of the season to power Odessa.

In the first, Celec (1) followed up a Hampus Sjodahl offensive rush and shoveled home a loose puck past RoadRunners goaltender Tyler Johnson at 8:28 who had overplayed the initial offensive chance by Sjohdal. The Jacks then pushed their lead up to two when Matthew Rypien tow-dragged his way toward the net, and muscled a backhand shot on the cage that was initially saved until Eric Carreras ripped the loose puck into the back of the net to extend the Jacks lead to 2-0.

Topeka’s Japanese sniper Yu Hikosaka (4) cut the Odessa lead in half on the power play at the 16:07 mark of the second but Jacks third year vet Derek Brown pushed the Jacks lead back up to two with a late tally at 19:20 of the second to give Odessa a 3-1 lead.

In the third, Topeka again cut into the Odessa lead when Andrew Hart (2) picked up a loose puck back-door and fired it puck past Jacks goaltenerGunner Rivers. Any Topeka comeback was squandered when Sjodahl (2) scored an open net tally at 19:20 to give the Jacks their first win against a South Division opponent.

Rivers again backstopped the Jackalopes to a victory, making 27 saves on 29 shots. Rivers is now 3-0-0 in three starts with the Odessa with 1.68 GAA and a .937%. He

The Jacks and RoadRunners are back at it Saturday at Ector County Coliseum beginning at 7:05 pm. Friday is the also the West Texas Beer Jam presented by Lone Star Brewing Company. $10 get's you a ticket to the game and a beer. Get your tickets today by contacting the Jackalopes’ ticket office at 432-552-7825 or log on to www.jackalopes.org for more information.

Be sure to follow the Jackalopes on Twitter @LetsGoJacks all year long and don’t forget to ‘Like’ the official “Odessa Jackalopes” fan page on Facebook.